The Most Famous
RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Yemen
This page contains a list of the greatest Yemeni Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 2,238 Religious Figures, 2 of which were born in Yemen. This makes Yemen the birth place of the 85th most number of Religious Figures behind Uganda and Palestine.
Top 2
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Yemeni Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Yemeni Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Uwais al-Qarani (594 - 657)
With an HPI of 68.39, Uwais al-Qarani is the most famous Yemeni Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.
Owais al-Qarani (Arabic: أُوَيْس ٱبْن عَامِر ٱبْن جَزْء ٱبْن مَالِك ٱلْقَرَنِيّ, ʾUways ibn ʿĀmir ibn Jazʾ ibn Mālik al-Qaranī), also spelled Uways or Owais, was a Muslim from South Arabia who lived during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Uwais al-Qarni Mosque in Raqqa (now in Syria) is his burial site, as he died during the Battle of Siffin there. It was destroyed by the Islamic State in 2013 and is currently awaiting reconstruction. Although he lived during the lifetime of Muhammad, he never physically met him so he is only honorarily counted among the Companions of the Prophet. Among the Tabi‘un, he is specially known as Khayr at-Tābiʿīn (Arabic: خَيْر ٱلتَّابِعِين, lit. 'the best of the Tabi‘un') and Sayyid at-Tabiʿīn fī Zamānah (Arabic: سَيِّد ٱلتَّابِعِين فِي زَمَانَه, lit. 'leader of the Tabi‘un of his era').
2. Malik al-Ashtar (585 - 658)
With an HPI of 60.98, Malik al-Ashtar is the 2nd most famous Yemeni Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Malik al-Ashtar (Arabic: مَالِك ٱلْأَشْتَر), also known as Mālik bin al-Ḥārith al-Nakhaʿīy al-Maḏḥijīy (Arabic: مَالِك ٱبْن ٱلْحَارِث ٱلنَّخَعِيّ ٱلْمَذْحِجِيّ) was, according to Sunni view, one of the people involved behind Uthman's assassination. While, according to Shias, he was one of the loyal companions of Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to them, Malik remained a loyal and avid supporter of Muhammad's progeny and the Hashemite clan. He rose to a position of prominence during the caliphate of Ali and participated in several battles, such as the Battle of Jamal and Siffin against Mu'awiya. His title "al-Ashtar" references an eyelid injury he received during the Battle of Yarmouk.
Pantheon has 2 people classified as religious figures born between 585 and 594. Of these 2, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased religious figures include Uwais al-Qarani and Malik al-Ashtar. As of April 2022, 1 new religious figures have been added to Pantheon including Malik al-Ashtar.
